A new experience altogether – Dining at Tim Tai

It’s a perfect love story. Love story of Chinese food and me. Like every love story eventually finds its happy ending, I found my happy ending with Chinese food at Tim Tai!

In the bustling crowd of Chinese restaurants in the city, Tim Tai gives a whole new outlook on Pan Asian cuisine. It’s just not the food, but the ambience too, which will overwhelm you. My love story has been taken to a different level here. Wondering how? Read on. 

Ambience

Bright, cheery and colourful these are the adjectives which will pop up in your mind as you enter this restaurant. There is something about this place which gives out such positive vibes; it’s the kind of place which makes you feel good. This is the kind of ambience which every restaurant should have, an ambience which makes you smile and look forward to your meal.

From outside, it seems like the restaurant is not a big one, but as you step in, it’s a complete different picture. So spacious, so bright! An open kitchen, a tree right in the middle of the restaurant, glass ceiling and a waterfall on the other side, these are just some aspects which makes Tim Tai’s ambience stand out from the rest. Yellow is the colour which dominates this place and I believe this is where the place gets it cheerful aura from. Words don’t do justice in describing how lovely the ambience is. 

Menu and Grub

The menu caters equally to vegetarians and non-vegetarians; this I thought was a good thing on their part because usually when it comes to Pan Asian cuisine, there are hardly any vegetarian items on the menu.

Extensive would be quite an understatement to describe their menu. Soups, salads, dim sums, and then there is a separate starters section, enough number of dishes under every heading which can get you really puzzled as to what you would like to eat. The best of all is the Stir fries section which has 20 + curry items. 

We started our meal with drinks, Yellow Fellow and Asian Mary. Both drinks were brilliant! I opted for Yellow Fellow mainly because of partiality. I love the colour yellow, and anything that has yellow in it is what I will opt for so yes, since the name of the drink had yellow in it I just had to try it. :D

Yellow Fellow is a combination of Peach elderflower and lime. A simple drink but absolutely delicious! Gives a soothing effect, making you want it all the more!

Yellow Fellow!

Asian Mary on the other hand was the exact opposite of Yellow Fellow in taste. If Yellow Fellow was cold and a blend of sour and sweet, Asian Mary was slightly warm and had a sharp tinge of spiciness which was because of the tobasco! Guava juice, pepper, lime and basil were the other components in this drink. There was a balance in the flavours, and what I particularly enjoyed was the presentation. 

Asian Mary!

For the starters we ordered baby corn with roasted chilli paste, and my goodness what a dish it indeed was! The flavours of it come out so sharply which leaves behind a lingering taste. A kind of taste that you just don’t want to get rid of! There was right amount of spiciness and it was cooked to perfection. A bite of this and it makes you go, ‘this is just so good’!

                                                                Looks good, doesn't it?

Next came the main course! Confused whether to have rice or noodles with the help of the staff we finally settled for noodles which was ‘Indonesian Bamee Goreng’. Along with this we ordered Quick Fried Mix Vegetables with Ginger Wine Sauce. It was indeed quite a combination!

The noodles was spicy, but it was balanced with the sweetness of the curry. The flavour of Ginger was very distinct which I thought was interesting. The aroma of noodles was powerful and the essence of ginger wine sauce was even better. I was savoring every spoon of this and with every spoon I found it all the more delicious!

                                                                   Indonesian Bamee Goreng

                                                                Its all about the vegetables!

A meal is incomplete without a dessert hence I couldn't let this experience end so abruptly. Their dessert section is quite limited which is kind of disappointing, but the items they have on the menu seem very interesting. I settled for Banana Spring Roll with Chocolate sauce.

A warning here, if you dislike bananas, don’t go for this one because this dessert has hot, squished banana as a filling within the crispy spring rolls. Presented with hot chocolate sauce over the spring rolls and a scoop of vanilla bean ice – cream, this dessert has such contrasting flavours! It’s nothing like I have had before! The hot squished banana and the crispness of the spring rolls just burst out in the mouth, and this bursting of flavours I believe is exactly what every dessert should do!

                                                 Banana spring roll and Vanilla bean ice-cream! 

Service and Pricing

Exemplary service! I have come across restaurants which have beautiful ambience, I have been to restaurants which serve absolutely delicious food, but I have never before come across a restaurant which has such excellent service like Tim Tai. Not only are they attentive to every need of yours they are very quick in serving you making sure you don’t stay hungry for long! When I went here the place was packed, there wasn't a single table which was empty hence one would naturally expect a slight delay in service, but Tim Tai took me by surprise. Not only were our orders taken in quickly but we were also served with our food within ten minutes! 

Apart from this the staff took their time out to ask us if we liked the food and even explained how they do their cooking, the kind of ice-cream flavours they have so on and so forth. So much courtesy, what more could a diner ask for?

Pricing is slightly on the expensive side, but I feel it’s worth it. The pricing for the quality of food they provide is apt, hence no complaints there.

I have never been so impressed with a restaurant so much. Tim Tai has set a new standard; it has excelled in all the three criteria’s namely, ambience, food and service! Here, the food is all about flavours. The ambience is all about happiness and the service is all about paying attention to diners needs.

The ambience sets the floor, the food does all the magic and in the end you leave this place with a full happy tummy and a happy face.

Indeed, dinning at Tim Tai is an experience!

Quick Bites

Rating – 4.5/5

Cost for Two – 1700/- inclusive of taxes.

Why you should go here – To enjoy Pan Asian cuisine at its best

Location - 130, 1st cross, 5th block, Koramangala, Bangalore

Landmark - Lane perpendicular to 100 ft road.

P.S - If you are going on a weekend, make a reservation. 

Casual Dining at Cup O' Joe

Are you looking for a café with a rooftop ambience? Or a café which will keep you entertained with a wide screen TV? Or a café which keeps you busy with board games and books or a café where you can sit alone, relax and introspect? Or a café which serves only breakfast, be it English, American, Spanish or Indian? Or how about a café which provides you with all the above! That would be an absolute bliss, wouldn’t it?

The city has cafes which cater to every kind of need, from ambience to food. The latest entry to this bang wagon is Cup O’ Joe!

Rooftop ambience + European and Mexican food + board games + books = Cup O’ Joe

Ambience

Cup O’ Joe finds itself sitting comfortably in Koramangala surrounded with a number of other eatery places. Located in 5^th cross, near Jyothi Nivas College, this café stands out on this road with its bright lemon yellow coloured walls on the outside. The café is in two floors, the first floor has 2-3 tables and the second floor or rather the rooftop is the area where most people prefer to dine. Book shelf in one corner and a guitar on another, a quaint waterfall in between these two corners is perhaps the best part about their ambience. 

Well-spaced, comfortable seating and books and games to keep you engaged, sounds good, right? However, if you compare the ambience of this place to the other café’s it lags behind a bit in terms of the cosiness.

Menu and Grub

Serving European and Mexican cuisine, this café also serves you with some delightful breakfast. This way the menu caters to all kinds of craving. From Soups to Salads, French toasts to burgers, Pastas to Burritos, Beverages to Desserts, it’s everything what one could be craving for, am I right or am I right!

What I found really interesting about the menu is the quotes! Some very quirky to witty food quotes can be found on every page of the menu at the bottom.

So, I was craving for nachos, no surprise there. :P This is when Sneha and I first went to this place. California Burrito is our usual place to have nachos since it’s close to college but this time we wanted to try a new place. After hearing quite a lot about how good Cup O’ Joe supposedly is, we immediately Zomato-ed and had a look at the menu and it was right there, nachos! We had made our decision, Cup O’ Joe it was!

We took a table at the rooftop and ordered for nachos. We weren't really looking forward to have anything more since first we wanted to quench our cravings.

But, that wasn't the only time I came here. My second visit here was with Anushka. We were meeting after a really long time, and since I wanted to give Cup O’ Joe another chance we ended up going here.

So here is how Cup O’ Joe fares when it comes to food.

Oreo Chocolate chip cookie and the Kiwi Mojito are a must have here. The beverages and drinks (smoothie, mojito, margarita) served here is very impressive, bang on when it comes to taste.

For someone who loves Oreo, this smoothie will make your day! You might even come back here again just to have this. No kidding. The taste of Oreo isn't very distinct. The flavour of it is there but it’s the chocolate chip cookie which stands out!

                                                                       *Yummalicious*

Oh and what can I say about Kiwi Mojito, refreshing in all its glory! This one literally takes always all your tiredness and stress making you feel all fresh in no time.  I've had Kiwi smoothie and mojito at a number of places, but nothing which tastes like this one! Absolutely energizing!

                         Looks refreshing, doesn't it?

Coming to my favourite, nachos! This was something I was really looking forward to for obvious reasons. Every time I try out nachos at a new place, nervousness is all I experience. This is because I don’t want to be disappointed. If I am, then my craving gets worse. Problems of being a girl I tell you!

So, the nachos here was a disappointment. The chips were not too crispy and the sour cream lacked taste, added to this, the toppings disappointed me the most.

Have you ever experienced this feeling when you are craving for something so much that even if it doesn't taste all that good you still end up eating it all and trying to comfort yourself saying, “it wasn't that bad”? Well, that’s exactly what I was doing after having these nachos.

                                                                     Nachos!!

The cottage cheese skewer on the other hand was impressive. Well plated, just by looking at the dish one could tell how delicious it would be and it was! The mint chutney was slightly bland but the seasoning in the cottage cheese made up for it. This one, I recommend. 

                                                                    Looks good or what!?

I was confused whether to order for a sandwich or pasta. After much debate with each other and my mind, Anushka and I settled for Arrabiata. There is nothing much to be said about this one, it was just like how Arrabiata tastes everywhere. Not too bland not too tasteful, just the right amount of everything. 

                                                                   Arrabiata! 

Finally my favourite section of the meal, desserts! After a tad bit of disappointment on hearing that New York cheesecake wasn’t available we decided to go for Joe’s Sundae.

So Joe’s Sundae is a lot of things put together. Fruits, hot chocolate, whipped cream, ice-cream and a handful of nuts. It looks mouth-watering, but it really isn't once you take a spoon of it. The problem with this one lies in the whipped cream, it’s all over! There is hardly any ice-cream; all you get is the whipped cream, fruits soaked in chocolate and loads of nuts. It is all kind of out of proportion here.

                                                               Sundae, Joe's Sundae!

Service and Pricing

Service is friendly, but not quick enough. We waited for twenty minutes for the dessert, can get anyone impatient, right?

Pricing is the other factor which will drag you to this café. Reasonably priced, and well suitable for a college students wallet! You can eat like a glutton here and still not end up spending a bomb, that’s all what we college students look for, don’t we?

The café is open all day from 11 in the morning, apt for a quick lunch or a relaxing meal when you want to spend time with no one but yourself.

Food is a little unsatisfactory here; it’s not that it’s really bad; it is just ordinary, nothing too delicious that can make you go gaga over it.

Quick Bites

Rating – 3/5

Cost for two – 700 for a full-fledged 3 course meal.

Why should you go here – To enjoy the beverages and other drinks and for its reasonable pricing.

Location - 483, 1A cross road, 5th block, Koramangala, Bangalore

Landmark - On the same lane as Golmaal Paratha and Tandoor Hut.